The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program. More particularly, the invention relates to an information processing system, an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program for allowing an information providing apparatus acting as a server to provide contents to a user who uses an information processing apparatus serving as a client, the provided contents being deemed preferred by the user even if the server has no information about the user.
Various server-client systems have been proposed in recent years. Each of these systems is made up of a server and a client or clients. Each client is formed by a user's apparatus. The server acquires information about what is preferred by each user so that the server may selectively provide the user in question with information compatible with the users' preferences.
In such a system, the information submitted from each client to the server is the user's personal information composed of user preferences such as the genre of preferred TV programs. Such personal information needs some kind of protection for security. One technique of protecting personal information is disclosed illustratively in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-1093714. The disclosed technique involves allowing the user to select his or her information that is deemed appropriate to disclose to the server as a way of protecting personal information.